SAW 0
by B.D. Skunkworks
Summary: Zero is a name that everyone has learned to fear. The punisher of the morraly corrupt, he forces his subjects into twisted games of life and death. And his newest puzzle is about to take shape...
1. Chapter 1

The following is a persona 4 and saw Xover. I don't own persona, saw, or any of it's intellectual proporties. On another note, since the main character of persona 4 doesn't really have a name I just decided to use the one I gave him in the game; 'Altair'.

"Ah crap, we missed the train!" Yosuke skidded to a stop at the end of the platform, gasping for breath. "We could of caught it is _somebody_ didn't have to go to the bathroom."

"Well excuse me," Yukiko huffed. "The train ride is three hours long, and I didn't think I would last the whole way."

"Well, either you look at it; it seems we've no choice but to wait for the next one. Though it's a pity we're separated from the rest of the class."

"Naoto; could you stop making so much sense for once in your life, it's kind of a kill joy..." Yosuke muttered.

The group was just returning from their exchange trip to Port Island. It was a great opportunity for them to learn about student life outside of their quaint little town of inaba. After an eventful weekend of touring and shopping they were due to return home, Chie didn't want to leave; Altair on the other hand, considered the trip wasted. He thought he could use this outing as a chance to get closer to Yukiko, but through some cruel twist of fate, he was unable to arrange any sort of alone time with her. He cast a quick glance at her now on the platform station and couldn't remember seeing a more beautiful girl in his life. Though his feelings for her were strong, his aloof maverick nature made confessing to her seem like a distant possibility.

"Brrr...It's getting a little chilly out here," Chie chattered.

"How could you possibly be cold with that windbreaker on?" Yosuke chastised her.

"Oh, Yosuke I swear you really-"

"Knock it off you two," Altair said.

And that's all it took. Altair was in a way, the unspoken senior of the group. His manner of speaking was so direct and sober, that the others couldn't help but to obey what he said.

"Ah, the train's approaching," Naoto said.

Everyone gathered their shopping bags and suitcases and waited for the great engine to shudder to a stop.

"Hey, why don't we ride in the last car?" Chie suggested.

"And why should we do that?" Naoto asked her.

"Because we could have it all to ourselves. Nobody ever rides the last car on a train."

"Yeah, I heard a myth like its haunted or something," Yukiko added. "If you ride the last car on a train you end up with bad luck or something."

"If you say so," Altair snorted and walked off to the back of the train.

The rest of the group followed him and boarded the last car. They stowed their bags and luggage in the available racks and made themselves comfortable. As the train began to roll away from the station, Yukiko rolled down a window and leaned out of it to catch a last glimpse of port island. Altair, who was sitting right across from her, could see right up skirt of her school uniform. He saw her white panties underneath her dark pantyhose and he thought he'd never breathe again.

"So, what are we gonna do for three hours to keep from going insane?" Yosuke asked.

Naoto withdrew a small book from her backpack and was instantly lost to the rest of the group. "Anyone else? Yosuke asked the rest of them.

"Ooh! Ooh! I'll show you all the neat stuff I bought from one of the Port island gift shops!" Chie chirped.

"No one wants to see all the buttons and stuffed animals you got at some cheap gift shop." Yosuke said.

"Ugh! Why do you always give me such a hard time, you jerk!"

"Because he must like you," Altair suggested

"As if..." Yosuke said shiftily.

"I knew it." Naoto said from behind her book.

The group shared a laugh as the train rolled through a dark tunnel. About halfway through, the train began lose speed, and then stopped altogether.

"Hey, why'd we stop?" Chie said.

"Sometimes this happens." Naoto offered. "They may need to let another train by or something."

They waited for about ten minutes and there was no sign of any other train.

"This is getting weird," Yosuke fretted. "Maybe that myth had some truth to it."

"Relax," Altair said simply.

A few more minutes of silence passed with no change in their situation.

Suddenly, Chie spoke up, "Hey, does anyone else feel sleepy?"

"Now that you mention it, I'm a bit drowsy," Yukiko said while rubbing her eyes.

Altair could feel it to; he suddenly was having a hard time keeping his eyes open. He wasn't at all worried, maybe this was just jet lag or something. But that's when Naoto fell out of her seat at collapsed to the floor.

"Oh, god, Naoto!" Chie jumped up and tried to get to her. She took a few dizzy steps and then fell to the ground.

"Dude, what the fu...." Yosuke never finished his sentence before he passed out too.

Altair made a last ditch effort to reach Yukiko and maybe bring her to safety, but he only got as far as raising his hand before his vision faded to black.

***

Altair awoke slowly from his mysteriously induced slumber. He found that he hadn't moved an inch from his original position. He cast a quick panicked look around the car to find that he was completely alone. He stood slowly on his unsteady legs and tried to make sense of his situation. He looked out one of the windows but only the darkness of the train tunnel shone through. Altair forced himself to breathe slowly in an effort to keep him from panicking. He revolved slowly on the spot, and that's when he saw it; a huge question mark painted in red on the car's door, and hanging from the ceiling in front of it was a mini tape recorder. Now Altair was panicked; none of those things were there before, but just where the hell did they come from? And where was everyone else? Altair's first response was to run to the cars' backdoor. He reached out to grab the handle but stopped himself short. There was an unmistakable sensation that was emanating from the handle; it tingled its way up Altair's arm the closer he got to the handle; it was electricity. "What the hell?" he sobbed out loud. He tried one of the windows, only to find that they had been electrified as well. "Shit..." Now Altair knew he had no other choice, so he slowly reached out a shaky hand and retrieved the tape recorder.

He hesitated before he pressed the play button, knowing that whatever was on that tape had absolutely no possibility of being good. He finally summoned his mental strength and pressed the button, and was greeted with a voice that was sure to haunt him in many-a-thousand nightmares:

_"Hello, Altair, and welcome to your intervention. So far along your life you have simply moved from place to place and person to person, never investing any common interest in any sort of relationship of any kind. To put it simply, you've just been going with the motions. While most people hide their true selves behind layers of deception and self denial, you seem to have nothing to hide. Your actions are straightforward and your words always reveal your purpose perfectly. Your method of getting through life is changing yourself simply by changing your behavior. It could be argued that you don't really have a personality at all, and it's by this flaw of character that I accuse you, Altair._

_By opening the door before you, you will start a forty-five minute timer and the train will begin to move. When that timer expires, this train will crash into the very station that it departed from. The only way to stop it is to engage the manual brake in the front car's cockpit. To reach the front car, you must pass a series of tests. To move forward through each one, you will have to put your conformities on full display; only by adapting to the personalities of each of the subjects you will face, will you be able to reach your goal. So I ask you, Altair, will you finally be able to form a meaningful connection with the people who need you most? Let the game begin. _

END OF CHAPTER 1

Comments appreciated.


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

Altair stood rooted to the spot in a trance of numb horror. Every synapse in his body wanted him to move or at least speak; but he could manage to do neither; his mind was too hazed with terror to act. He looked again to the door before him. Nothing about it had changed, the foreboding red question mark still burned into his eyes as it did before. He tried to think of anyone who would want to do such a thing to him- and that's when it hit him, he knew exactly what was going on. He remembered Chie telling him about a girl at school who had gone missing and was later found dead; a girl named Saki Konishi....

(Altair's flashback)

Saki awoke slowly, very slowly. She couldn't see anything or tell where she might be, but she knew she was laying on something hard and cold, and she knew she had been there a while. "H-hello..." she called shakily. She got unsteadily to her feet and tried to calm herself. Because it was pitch dark and her power of sight was useless to her, Saki's other senses went on full alert, and right now she could hear something; it sounded like...ticking.

She reached out her hand and tried to move in the direction she though it was coming from. She only took a few steps when her outstretched hand came into contact with something cold and sharp. "Ouuch! what the..." the unmistakable sensation of hot blood ran down her arm as she cradled her cut hand. "Heeeeelllpp!!!" she cried. She listened to her own echo being thrown back at her as she whirled around trying to get some kind of bearing. And that's when the lights flared on. Saki had to shield her eyes against their intensity. When they finally adjusted she found herself in a dank and desolate room. She didn't know what this place may once have been, but it was clear that no one had been here in ages. And then she found something even more disturbing; she was locked in a cage.

The cage was large enough to allow her to actually walk around a bit, but still didn't ease the sensation of being trapped. She inspected the bars more closely and found that they were extremely sharp, like razorblades. She noted their shape and how they curved and arced upwards; she was locked in a giant birdcage. And then another detail hit her. In a ring that circled the entire cage was what looked like keys, but before she had time to ponder this, a small television set on the wall flickered to life. A grainy image swam into focus on the screen, Saki couldn't tell if the figure on the screen was human or not, it looked like a horrific kind of carnival mask with four glowing yellow eyes. The figure slowly turned its eyes on Saki; what could have easily passed for an eternity went by before the figure spoke. It was a terrifying, yet deliberately paced drawl that made Saki's blood freeze in her veins:

_"Hello, Saki, I want to play a game. Up until now you've used everyone and everything around you as an escape from your responsibilities. You unjustly accuse those around you of holding you back; of keeping you from reaching your potential. But strangely enough, you've never told this to anyone, you simply keep these thoughts to yourself, never letting even your closest friends know how you truly feel; honestly is the best policy, Saki._

_All of these negative feelings your harbor have created a cage of vehemence around your heart._

_Tonight, I give your the opportunity to escape from that cage once and for all. In front of your eyes and all around you, are the many keys that are symbolic of the many mixed feelings that you hide from those around you. One of them is the key to your freedom, all you have to do is find the right one; but work quickly; for in three minutes the cage will close on your body, cutting you to ribbons. Live or die, Saki, make your choice."_

Saki was unable to muster any kind of response to what she just heard; surely this was a dream, she was just having a nightmare, that's all. But that's when a deafening whirring sound filled her ears, and the blades of the cage began to move. They pulsated up and down, making the cage seem to grow larger and smaller with their movement. Saki knew that if she went anywhere near them, she'd be ripped to pieces. She suddenly remembered the first sound she heard when she awoke, and now she could see its source; there was a clock on the far wall, and it was ticking. "Somebody help me!" She cried desperately. But for all the response she received, she may as well have stayed silent. Chocking back her tears of confusion and terror, she slowly approached the whirring bars, if she wanted to live; she knew she had to do something.

She stretched her arm between the razor bars and reached out for the nearest key, wincing and crying as the blades danced inches from her face. She wriggled her fingers in a desperate attempt to somehow make her arm longer, but it was no use. If she wanted to reach the keys, she needed to press her body against the blades. Saki cried in a series of sharp bursts, trying to ready herself for the pain she was about to endure. She held her breath; leaned into the cage; and screamed like she never screamed before. The bars were beyond razor sharp; they ate their way right through the fabric of her school uniform and into her flesh. Saki launched herself away from the bars with the key clenched in her fist, screaming with the acid-like sensation of the hellacious slashes she just received along half her body. She wiped away the blood flowing freely into her right eye and searched for a keyhole. She it found on the cage's floor dead center. She dropped to her knees and fitted the key inside; it wouldn't turn. "Fuck!" she cried, flinging the key away. And that's when something more horrifying happened.

The cage grew smaller.

The bars lurched inward, closing in around her. "God, no! No!" Saki sprang up and made another attempt at grabbing a key. This time she used her left arm as she reached between the blades, and due to the cage's smaller size, she needed to reach even further for the key. She screamed in anguish as the blades melted into her flesh, drawing copious amounts of blood. She closed her fingers around the key and pulled away towards the center of the cage. She fitted the key into the lock; another no-go. Saki cast a look at the clock through her blood clouded vision. The second hand had already been around twice; she had less than a minute to escape. And that's when a new feeling took over; it was the primal survival instinct that had finally risen to the surface. Gone were the fear and the confusion; she wanted to live.

Saki threw herself at the blades in a fever of crazed desperation; they bored into her already hideously lacerated flesh, but she was beyond feeling pain at that point. She clenched the key in her hand and dashed to the lock. She fitted it in and prayed to god with every last ounce of her remaining strength that this one would work. She turned the key, but the lock remained closed. Saki cried in defeated terror as she knew death was only seconds away. She closed her eyes and screamed at the ceiling as the cage closed in for the third and final time, turning her into an unrecognizable lump of lacerated flesh that squelched down the razors and onto the floor....

"...And you know what the weirdest part is," Chie said to the group in closing. "On a small part of what was left of her, they found the number zero."

"Zero?" Naoto said.

"Yeah, it was like someone etched it into her skin or something. Creepy, right?"

"Jesus, how could you even tell that story with a strait face? I feel like I'm gonna lose my lunch." Yosuke whined.

Yukiko had turned deathly pale and looked like she would never speak again.

"I'm interested to know how you came across this information," Naoto queried.

"Geez, don't you guys watch the news anymore? It's all they've been talking about for the past month! They refer to the murder as 'case number zero'."

"Some sickos, huh?" Altair huffed.

"Did they ever find the person responsible?" Yosuke asked.

"No," Chie said simply. "There were no clues at the scene, so the case has practically gone cold. Who knows, maybe it'll happen again someday..."

Altair slowly eased himself back to reality, knowing it was one he would rather not be in. All of these mysterious circumstances seemed to fit the profile of Chie's story. Whoever this 'zero' person was, Altair knew he had no choice but to follow their sick little rulebook. He slammed the tape recorder to the floor where it shattered in a storm of jagged plastic. He placed his hand on the cars door handle and turned. If Altair wanted to make it out of this alive, he would have to play the game...

END OF CAHPTER 2

I'm sorry if this didn't really advance the story any, I really got caught up

In that flashback scene!


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE

Altair slowly placed his hand on the handle of the door, a small part of him was hoping that it was electrified as well, and it would put him out of his newfound misery, but no such thing happened. He opened the door and was immediatly thrown off balance by the train suddenly lurching forward. The message hadn't lied, it really was moving. He looked upwards and noticed a large digital timer had come to life, and it was counting down from fourty-five minutes. "Ah, shit..." he moaned. He carefully moved through the door and onto the small walkway between the two cars.

Altair clung to the door's handle for dear life; there was no telling just how fast the train was actually moving, the countryside whipped by in a fevered blur that was impossible to track.

Altair considered jumping from the train in his desperation; but the notion quickly evaperated, the jump would surely kill him, and if he died, then his friends had no possibility of rescue. He looked to the door before him and noticed for the first time that written on it in the same crimson lettering as the question mark was the message:

_LEAVE HIM BE_

Altair didn't have any idea what that could possibly mean, but there was only one way to find out. He breathed in slowy and opened the door. He was met with darkness; the car's lights had been shut off. But the fading sunlight filtering through the train's windows cast dancing shadows around the car. Altair could barely make out something in the center of the car, it looked...big,that was the only detail he could distinguish. Whatever it was, he couldn't get to it, a chain-link fence had somehow been erected in the car,keeping him from getting to the other side. "Now what?" he asked out loud, and that's when the lights came to life, and Altair could finally see his first nightmare.

In the center of the car was what looked like a giant iron X, Altair didn't know where it came from or how it could have possibly ended up here, but then he noticed an even more distubing detail; chained to that X, was Yosuke.

He snapped awake and darted his eyes around, "Someone help!" He tried to move, but his arms and legs were securely fastened to the X at each of it's four points.

"Yosuke!" Altair yelled, "This is going to be hard, but you have to listen to me!"

"What the fuck's happeing! Get me out of here!"

Yosuke went into a fit of desperate madness as he tried to tear free of the device he was chained to. Altair did everything in his power to try to somehow get throughthe fence that was keeping them apart, but nothing worked. And that's when he noticed another mini tape recorder on the floor in the car's near corner. Altair walked over and retrieved it.

"What the hell's that?" Yosuke sobbed.

"The answer to the riddle," Altair said simply. He pressed the play button and the cold, self-amused voice once again met his ears:

_"Altair; your first test. The person in front of you is someone you know well, his name is Yosuke Hanamura, he was your first friend at Yasogami high he seems relatively easy going and care free, at the same time, he is hiding something from you; indeed from everyone around him. Did you ever think it strange how quickly Yosuke attached himself to you? He may be able to pull the wool over your eyes, Altair, but I know better._

_ The device Yosuke is chained to is called the X factor. At the end of this message a sixty second timer will start; as the seconds tick away, so will Yosuke's chance for survival. His freedom lies with you, Altair, but you must make the right choice. Before you are two buttons; one will save his his life, the other will condem him to death. Only by facing his most deep-seated fear will he have a chance for salvation. Let the game begin."_

Static crackled through the device as the voice faded away.

"T-That's a joke...right?" Yosuke moaned.

Before Altair could asnswer, a new sound filled the car, the sound of a very large machine slowly humming to life. There were several mechanical clicks and whirs, and then Yosuke started screaming.

The X started to expand.

"Okay, just think...think..." Altair said to himself.

But thinking was next to impossible with Yosuke's screams reverberating through his skull. "Altair, don't just stand there! DO SOMETHING!!!"

"The message," he said out loud. "Yosuke what do you fear?"

"Fucking death! AHHHHHHGHGGHHHHHH!!!"

The X had nearly doubled in length and was taking Yosuke's limbs with it. Altair winced as the unmistakable cracking of broken joints sounded through the car. "Ohhh, God!!!!" Blood began to stain his uniform and run through the legs of his pants. He didn't have nuch time left.

Altair noticed for the first time the two buttons on the door of the fence. One was labeled 'Help him', the other 'Leave him'. Altair cluthced his pounding head trying to make sense of this choice before him. He chanced another glance at Yokuke and nearly wretched. His limbs were strected far beyond what should have been humanly possible. Yosuke's screams increased ten-fold, but they weren't enough to drown out the sound of muscle, skin, and sinew being torn to peices.

"Yosuke, answer me, what's your f-fear!" Altair couldn't keep his voice from cracking.

"A-lo...grrggh...". Yosuke choked up an alarming amount of blood that prevented him from speaking properly.

It was now or never, Altair needed to make a choice. He looked again to the two buttons. 'Help him'. Of course Altair desperately wanted to help Yosuke. 'Leave him'. He couldn't do that, no way. But then he remembered the message on the door, 'LEAVE HIM BE' and with no time to spare, Altair hit the 'Leave him' button. Intantly the X stoped expanding, and retracted to it's original size. The chains binding Yosuke were released, and he droped to the floor in a heap.

"God, are you okay Yosuke? Answer me!"

Yosuke could only nod in response.; his teeth were clenched to tightly to allow anything else. He breathed shallowly and tried to avoid moving at all, now that all his limbs had been grotesquely dis-located. He was in bad shape; broken, bloody, but alive. The door to the fence swung open and Altair rushed inside, only to run into another fence.

"Goddamit!!" he cried, and pounded the fence in frustration. Altair took note of the layout and noticed that the cage locked within the smaller cage, was perfectly configured to lead him around the car and to the next door, but no to Yosuke himself. This maniac had really thought this through. "Yosuke," Altair said weakly, "This train is moving fast, if I don't stop it, it's going to crash. I have to leave you, but I'll be back with help, okay?"

"Don't...go..." Yosuke musterd.

Altair could find no further words of comfort; it was with unsteady legs that rose from his position and continued to the next door.

End of chapter 3


	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

A gentle reminder; I do not own saw, persona4, or any of it's intellectual proporties. I do not own Coheed and Cambria's 'Welcome Home' (but it would be cool if I did).

A lone figure sat in the front car; a young girl. She sat in the conductor's chair, it was always a dream of hers, ever since she was little she wanted to be a train engineer. She admired the orange -lit glow of dying sunlight on the passing scenery and smiled a little to herself. She glanced between the three flat screen computer moniters before her; her subject was getting close. She withdrew a cell phone from her oversized sweater and dialed a number. While she listened to the call tone she sang a lyric to herself: "You could have been all I wanted, but you weren't honest, now...get...in...the...ground...". The call's recipient picked up the other line. "Fuuka?" she said. The voice on the other line gave her a sharp response.

"I'm sorry, four." the girl said in quick appolegy. "My game is near completion, do you have the next subject?" The answer given must have been satisfactory. "Excellent. This is going better than expected." A sudden movement on one of the screens caught her attention. "I have to go soon, my subject is entering his next game. Zero's will be done."

She clicked the phone closed and prepared to watch the events unfold.

****

Altair stood on the landing of the next door, the message written there burned into his brain:

_TRUE STRENGTH COMES FROM WITHIN_

He knew whatever that meant, it had something to do with his next test. Altair grasped the handle, and let himself through the door. Now that the sun was almost completely set, he could hardly see anything within the car. Altair took a few steps foreward and made contact with another chain link fence. "Hello! anyone in here?" he knew one of his friends had to be in here, what he didn't know, was what he'd have to do to save them. Just when Altair was at a loss, was when the lights flared on. Altair squinted his eyes and waited for them to adjust, when they did, the sight that met his eyes made him wish he couldn't see again.

Both Chie and Yukiko were in this car. They sat across from one another in two seats that faced inward toward the isle. Between them was a device that Altair had no hope of recognizing. If he had to hazard a guess, he would say that it looked like some kind of pump. Connected to it were two tubes, each tube ran into a device that was attached to either of the two girls. Something was attached to Yukiko's chest, it had straps that ran around to her back and her hands were chained to the arm rests of the seat. The device on Chie's head almost made Altair scream. It looked like a huge glass box, it was suspended from the ceiling and her head was fastened inside it.

"Chie, Yukiko, wake up!" Altair screamed.

Chie's eyes fluttered open slowly and she moaned loudly. She was shocked fully awake when she realized her situation. "Hey! someone help!" her voice was muffled by the glass cube's interior. She wrrigled and thrashed in her seat, but her arms and legs were chained in place, preventing her from moving. She turned her head as far as it would go and noticed Altair for the first time. "Help me please!!" she shrieked.

Her cries awakened Yukiko, who snaped alert and began to struggle with her restraints. "What the.. w-what is this!" Her eyes fell on Chie and her screams redoubled.

"Okay, just calm down. Yukiko, look at me!" Altair shouted.

Yukiko turned to Altair, her face a shroud of terror. "Help us!"

Altair moved along the fence, searching every inch until he found what he was looking for; a mini tape recorder. He mentally braced himself and pressed the play button.

_"Hello once again, Altair. The two people in front of you are two of your closest friends, but they are also close friends in their own right. The relationship they share is somewhat...simbiotic. Yukiko looks to Chie for protection and support, while Chie gains a certain satisfaction knowing that she plays this role for Yukiko. While each of them has their place in this relationship,there is something that the both of them are lacking, and it falls upon you, Altair, to find out what that is._

_ The device they are attached to is called, the drain, it is a name of no aim in this game, Altair, is to convince Chie to simply do what she has already been doing for so long...draining Yukiko of her strength. By pressing the button under her hand, she will engage the device between the two of them. Only when enough of Yukiko's strength has been drawn will the key be made available. That key can only be used once, so think carefully, Altair, about who is more deserving of the gift of life, the one who gives strength, or the one who takes it. The choice is yours."_

"W-what does that mean?" Yukiko sobed.

Altair took a few breaths in order to steady himself, he knew one of them had to die, those were the rules. The true gravity of this entire situation hadn't hit him until now. Just how could someone do this to people? And what did Altair do to deserve this? He banged his head on the fence in anquished frustration.

"Altair, please help!" Chie screamed. "Get us out of here!"

Altair moved along the fence and found a narrow gap between the two fences. He moved through it and found himself directly behind Chie. It was here that he noticed there was a tube attached to Chie's device, it curved upwards through a gap in the chain links.

"I see the key," he announced. It was inside the device, lodged halfway in the tube; it was attached to a small flotation device. "How the hell do I..." Altair soped his thought halfway. "Chie, you have to press that button!"

"But we don't know what it does!"she screamed back

"Listen to me," Altair said. "When that clock up there expires, this train will crash and we'll all die," he motioned to the digital timer above them, which read 14:39... and counting.

"Yosuke's back there; he's still alive. You have to do this, for all of us!"

"Okay...okay...." Chie took a moment to steady herself. She looked across to Yukiko, who stared back with horror-widened eyes. She felt around for the button that was located under the armrest, closed her eyes and pushed it.

The machine in the center of the car gurgled to life, and Yukiko screamed in agony. "TURN IT OFF- AAGHHHHH!" Chie released the button and the machine fell silent. Chie shook her head vigorously as something ran down her face. It was hot; it was wet; it was blood.

"Oh my god!" She shrieked.

"Look, calm down, Chie!" Altair said. Now he knew what the message meant by 'drawing strength from Yukiko'. "I see now. That box has to fill up so the key will float through the tube."

"No way!" Chie choked. " No, no, no, no, no!!"

"You have to! it's the only way to survive. And not just you; Yukiko, Yosuke, and Naoto is somewhere on this train too! It's not just youself you'll be saving, you'll be saving everyone... including me. I can't do this without your help, Chie..."

Altair's message must have gotten through to her, she slowly placed her hand on the button again. "Okay... I can do this..."

"Please, Chie, don't..." Yukiko begged.

"I have to," she moaned in response. and with that, she pressed the button again.

The machine between came alive, and so did Yukiko's screaming. The device on her chest sputterd and whined as she writhed in her chair. Her screams tore into Altair's brain as hung onto the fence for support. Suddenly the device fell silent again.

"Chie, you have to keep going!" Altair told her. He stoped himself short when he saw Chie's situation. The glass cube on her head was nearly full, Chie was struggling to keep her head above the surface. Seeing Chie nearly drowning in a pool of Yukiko's blood was too much to take. he turned around and was violently sick against one of the windows.

"I can't do it, I c- ca-" Chie could hardly draw the breath to speak through all the blood she was swallowing.

"Yes, you can," Altair's voice had become a strained whisper at this point. "I can almost reach the key... just a little more..."

"Chie... s-stop..." Yukiko had been severly weakened by her massive loss of blood, any more and she would surely die.

"Do it Chie...do it," Altair said.

Chie cried out as tears rolled down her face, mixing with the blood that was up around her ears. "I won't be able to breathe!" she cried.

"I'll help you, I promise," Altair assured her.

Chie sobbed again and took a deep breath, and pressed the button again.

Yukiko went rigid in her chair, she had no more strength to scream. Altair watched the key slowly float up through the tube.

"Almost there..." he cupped his hand as the key finally fell into his reach, along with a splash of Yukiko's blood.

The doo to the fence swung open and Altair dashed inside, nearly losing his balance as the train rounded a corner. Altair looked at the key in his hand and knew he had an agonizing decision to make. Chie's head was no longer visible inside the cube; all that showed was a pool of crimson. Yukiko was weak and barely conscience, but alive.

He couldn't decide.

There was no way he could choose which one of his best friends would die. But did he really think of Yukiko as just a friend? He looked to her now, her skin was ashen and her eyes barely focused. "Help...me..." she moaned weakly.

The tug on Altair's heart was too much.

He raced behind her chair and fit the key into the keyhole he found there. Yukiko's restraints were broken and she callasped to the that Yukiko was free, he looked over to Chie and thought he was going to be sick again. Her whole body was contorting and convulsing in a way that one would do when they've held their breath too long. If she could actually move, Altair was sure she would have twisted herself backwards in some desperate attempt to get that cube off her head. Altair knew he said he would help her; and he knew she was waiting with every last breath she had in her body for him to make good on that promise.

Altair tried to remove the key from the lock, but it was stuck tight. "Nooo!!" he ran to Chie and tried with his bare hands to remove the device himself. He pulled on every angle he could find, and hammered it with his fists, but nothing worked.

Chie's arms and legs went rigid in the chair, and the final air bubble of her life escaped her mouth and she went limp; she had drowned.

Altair broke down. He rested his head on the cube and cried. He wasn't sure how long he spent there, but a weak moan from Yukiko brought him back to reality. He knealt by her and placed her head on his lap. "You're gonna be fine," he told her. But they were only false words of comfort. Yukiko's skin was cold to the touch, she had lost too much blood; she was dying. In her last earthly effort, she slowly raised her hand and pointed to something at the far corner of the car. Altair followed her finger and saw for the first time a security camera there, and the red recording light was on and blinking. He looked back to Yukiko, but her gaze had become vacant, her arm fell to the floor and she was gone.

Altair shed no tears this time. Something inside him had broken; there was no pain; there was no sadness; and there was no anger. A fog had seemingly replaced his brain, and right now it told him stand up , open the door, and move on. And that's just what he did.

END OF CHAPTER 4

Phew. I really like how this chapter turned out, one of my favorite games so far(many more to come, trust me). As for the whole 'Welcome Home' thing, that song has possesed me as of late, and actually that song was my inspiration for writting this whole fic! Just listen to the song one day and imagine a montage of jigsaw traps, then you'll get my drift....

anyway the final chapter is next...


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5

It was pitch black outside; the only indication if any light came from what Altair could make out from the streaming countryscape that blured by him. He fought to balance himself on the small walkway between him and the next car. And there before him, emblazed on the door in mile-high letters was the message:

_AGE IS BUT A NUMBER_

Altair struggled to wrap his hazed brain around what that could possibly mean, and how it could help him in his next test. He swung open the door and stumbled inside the car. "Naoto!"he cried. He knew she was the only one left that he hadn't faced yet, so it was a safe bet that she was here somewhere.

"Is someone there?" came an oddly distant voice.

"Me, Altair. You okay, Naoto?"

"No," was the frightened response.

By now Altair had been strangely de-sensitized to the drawn-out drama of his own blindness, and he waited in silence for the lights to click on.

He didn't wait long.

The light illuminated Altair's next test. He leaned on the familar chain link fence as he took in the sight before him.

Naoto was sealed inside an enourmous glass box, it was completlely transparent save for four blank black screens on each of the sides. Naoto pounded on the box with her fists, "God, get me out of here!"

Altair was so used to seeing Naoto calm and composed, that her desperation almost seemed out of character; then again, character meant nothing in this life or death situation. Altair cast a look to the cars' corner floor and found what he was looking for. He retreived it and gave Naoto a long stare. "I'm getting you out of here, I just have to figure out how first."

Naoto stared back at him with widened eyes as Altair pressed the play button on the recorder:

_"Altair, congradulations on coming thus far, I now present to you what could possibly be your hardest test yet, or it could be the easiest, depending on the reaction of your comrade. Right now you are looking at someone who doesn't even know their own place in this exsistence; or rather choses not to know her place. Everyone's role in society can be determined by a simple number, but Naoto tries with every fiber of her being to deny that very number; she's in limbo, Altair, and it's your job to bring her back._

_ The device Naoto is locked in is called Pandora's box, around her are four buttons, each will scroll through a random number one through nine. She must push the buttons to draw a number, then it's up to you, Altair to put them in the proper order. Naoto already knows this number very well, and her only hope of survival is to make peace with it once and for all. Let the game begin."_

When the message was through playing Naoto's eyes began darting wildy around the corners of the box.

"What do you see?" Altair screamed at her.

"These things are screens. There are numbers scrolling all over them. I can't keep track!"

"Okay, just press one and see what happens."

The box was large enough for Naoto to stand up inside in, she swiveled her head around and reached up and pressed the button on the box's top panel. "It stoped on five," she reported back.

Altair took a step closer to the fence and noticed a numeric keypad there. "I see," he said. He pressed the number five on the keypad, and something horrifying happened,

The top of the box closed in.

It dropped by about a foot, causing Naoto to scream and crouch to avoid it. "Oh, dear god!" she moaned.

Altair now saw the objective of this game: Figure out the combination, or the box will crush her. He had to think carefully about his next choice, he glanced at the digital timer above his head, it read 9:27... he didn't have much time. Altair ran the message through his head again and came up with something. "Naoto, maybe we don't need the numbers on the box, the message said you already know them!"

"How could that be possible!" She shouted back. "They're being provided for a reason, so it's obvious we must use them!"

"Oh, goddamit, Naoto! Stop over thinking everything for once in your fucking life!" Altair's response caused Naoto to pause, but only fora second.

"Altair, whatever this is, it's obviously a test of our meddle, we just have to look inside ourselves to get through this!" Naoto had regained her cool composure and Altair was at an absolute loss as to how she could be so calm when her life was in jepordy.

"The message, Naoto, remember the message!" Altair screamed.

"Forget the message, it's purpose was to confuse and throw us off! Now pay attention, I'm getting another number." Naoto pressed the button in front of her, "Eight!" she said. Altair shook his head and pressed the number eight on the keypad, and the front of the box closed in. "Oh, no!" Naoto cried.

Altair shouted in frustration, "This in getting us nowhere! You've got to listen to me-"

"I am listening to you," Naoto said back, "And I think I-" before she finished her sentence, the train rounded a sharp corner and Naoto lost her balance and was thrown into the left side of the box. She looked to Altair, "Seven." she said. Altair input the forcibly drawn number and the left side of the box closed in.

"Still wrong! What kind of number are we trying to find anyway!"

"There are four buttons, so there mus tbe four numbers to the code..." Naoto mused. She looked beneath her and pressed the button on the botton with her foot "Two." she said.

Altair input the number and the bottom closed in. Naoto was running out of space, and Altair out of time. "We solved a riddle like this before, Naoto, remember that guy who put those strange letters in your locker?"

"I think this is a little different," Naoto said back. She was crouched down in the far corner of the rapidly shrinking box, and there was a note of panic creeping into her voice.

"We've wasted too much time here, there's less than seven minutes left, I have to get to the front car to stop this thing or we die; the time for thinking is over." Altair approached the keypad.

"Wait, what are you doing?" Naoto cried.

"Four numbers... I'll try your adress first."  
"But if I don't push a button first-"

Altair ignored her and input the first three numbers of her street adress; and three random panels of the box closed in.

"Jesus! Altair stop!" She was pressed completely flat in the box now. "I-c-can't bre-t-he!

It was then that Altair made his decision.

What he was about to do was practically unspeakable and never had he thought it would come to this. "I'm sorry , Naoto," he sighed.

"Wh-what are you d-doing?"

Enough time had been wasted, Naoto was the only thing between him and his survival; and he wasn't going to let her stop him. Altair began randomly pressing numbers on the keypad. The box grew impossibly small and Altair could hear the snaps and sicking crunches as Naoto's body was compacted to the size of a postage stamp. The door to the fence swung open and Altair walked through without even stoping to show any kind of remorse for what he had just done.

Altair wasted no time in crossing the walkway to the next car; he needed to reach that brake. He entered the front car and saw his objective, the control panel behind the conducter's chair, the only problem was, there was someone in the chair. Whoever she was, she looked very relaxed, she sat with her legs crossed and wore a complacent smile on her strangely beautiful face.

Her eyes behind her glasses were narrowed in such a way that Altair was positive she knew something he didn't. Just when he was at a loss, the girl spoke for the first time, "Hello, Altair," she said.

Something fired in Altair's brain; he had heard that before. "You...who are you?"

"I am seven, a subordinate of zero," she said simply. There was a small smirk on her lips that took form during her decloration.

"Seven?" Altair sputterd, "You did all this shit! Didn't you!"

Apparently the girl didn't seem to hear him, "I just love trains, don't you?"

"What?"

"I once palyed a game with a guy on a train. I asked him who would board the car first; the babling man or the man who looked like a potato." the girl stoped and let out a high pitched giggle. "And wouldn't you know it he managed to guess right. And with each little question he answered, he got favor in return...special favors, you could say." There was a real manic glint in her eyes now; she was clearly enjoying this. "I guess you could say that i like playing games with people."

"So what the fuck do you want with me? All my friends are dead because of you, you bitch!"

"Through no fault of their own, it was you who failed them, Altair. And now here's you chance for redemption. I can tell you're already looking past my eyes; you have no clue who I am, but strangely enough, both our lives are in your hands."

"There's no way I'm saving you,bitch." Altair spat.

"But you've already shown that you're unwilling to sacrifice yourself for the sake of another; I see everthing , Altair. So now, I give you a choice. You can pull the brake and stop the train, or you can let it crash, killing the both of us. Will you stop it, letting the person responsible for your misery live another day; or will you let us both ride towards our doom, the choice is yours."

Altair looked to the digital timer- 2:26... "If it's that simple, then why don't you just stop it yourself?"

"Just as I was watching you, Altair, zero sees everything that I do. This is my test as well; I must face the possibility of death to truly understand zero's will."

Altair had the choice in his hands, would he really let the train crash, killing them both? But he couldn't possibly let this bitch live, could he? That's when the idea came to him.

He rushed passed the girl's chair and pulled the trains' red emergency brake. The train screeched and whined and eventually rolled to a stop. There was 00:02 left on the timer.

"Congradulations, you are still alive. Most people are so ungrateful to be alive; but not you; not anymore." the girl said. That statment sent chills up Altair's spine, he got the feeling that wasn't the first time she said that someone. But he was quickly filled with another feeling; hatred.

He wrapped his hands around her neck and squeezed. he wanted nothing more than to see this girl suffer.

And to Altair's astonishment, she laughed. "You don't learn do you? This is your second chance at life and you're going to destroy it."

"What the fuck do you mean?"

"You seem to forget that the doors and windows are still electrified, and only I know how to turn them off."

"Someone will find this train eventually," Altair said. "Things like this just don't go missing; people notice."

The girl laughed again, "Idiot, this is a one way special charter. From here it will automatically pilot itself strait to the trainyard, and that's where it will stay for over three months! So you can kill me if you wish, but if you do so, this place becomes your tomb."

Altair stepped away from her at this revelation. Every possible scenario had been thought out, he couldn't win this game. "So what do I do?" he said , defeated.

"Allow me to turn off the current, and then you'll have your freedom."

She rose from her chair and walked passed Altair to the door. "Maybe now you'll learn to appreciate your life, Altair...maybe." She closed the door behind her and left Altair alone in the car. A short while later the train shuddered and went completely silent, the power had been turned off; he was free to go. He opened the door and stepped onto the walkway, from there he jumped to the ground and ran as fast as he could in the direction of town. He needed to be sure someone knew of this.

*END OF SAW 0 PT.1*

-whew! I wonder if this chapter was a little too long, I really didn't feel like breaking it into two seperate parts. Anyway thx for reading (if you bothered) part two is in the works.


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